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S 


THE  DISEASES 


OF  THE  WINE, 


m 


By  J.  A.  Schmidt, 


Editor  of  the  Monthly  Statistics  and  of  the  Wine  &  Fruit  Reporter. 


*  Bloemeke,  Steam  Job  Piinters,  166  William  Street,  N.  Y. 


I 


THE  DISEASES 

OF  THE  WINE 

HOW  TO  PREVENT, 

AND  HOW  TO  CURE  THEM, 

^CCORDING  TO  THE  pOCTRINES  OF 

I.  PASTEUR. 

By  J.  A.  Schmidt, 

Editor  of  the  Monthly  Statistics  and  of  the  Wine  &  Fruit  Reporter. 

Price:  $2.00. 


N  ew  York, 
1868. 


Office  of  the  Monthly  Statistics,  45  Beaver  St..  P.  0.  B.  6095. 


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PR  E  F  A  C E 


; 


No  wine-growing  country  lias  paid  more  attention  to, 
and  bestowed  more  carefulness  upon  the  manufacture  of 
wine  than  France,  her  production  of  the  noble  drink  sur¬ 
passing  in  quality  that  of  any  other  country  of  this  de¬ 
scription.  The  export  of  her  produce,  however,  could  con¬ 
siderably  be  increased  but  for  the  circumstance  that  French 
wines  for  the  most  part,  do  not  bear  with  long  and  pro¬ 
tracted  journeys,  being  liable  to  many  diseases  and  alter¬ 
ations,  such  as  acidness  or  acidification,  susceptibility  of 
growing  moldy,  or  turning  vapid  or  bitter  a.  s.  o.,  so  that 
when  they  arrive  at  the  places  of  destination,  they  frequently 
commence  to  deteriorate,  the  more  so,  as  they  rarely  meet 
there  with  the  proper  treatment  when  stored. 

Especially  French  table-wines  are  frequently  susceptible 
to  alterations,  even  the  best  proving  sometimes  the  most  de- 
icate  in  that  respect.  Thus,  before  all,  the  wines  of  Bur- 


4 


gundy  are  to  some  extent  deteriorated  almost  every  year  by 
the  malady  called  in  French  “Amer,”  the  losses  incurred 
thereby  being  immense. 

The  extent  of  these  deficiencies  is  so  great,  that  there  is 
perhaps  not  to  be  found  one  single  cellar  in  the  wine  manu¬ 
facturing  districts  of  France,  that  does  not  contain  some 
wine  degenerated  more  or  less  in  that  regard.  As  French 
savants  in  general  have  contributed  most  to  everything  worth 
knowing  in  relation  to  the  culture  of  the  Yine  and  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  the  wine,  the  special  works  of  Lavoisier,  Chaptal 
a.  o.  m.  bearing  witness  thereof ;  so,  at  the  present  emer¬ 
gency,  one  of  the  first  physiologists  of  the  French  and  of 
our  age,  Mr.  L.  Pasteur,  has  lately  crowned  the  labors  of  his 
predecessors  on  that  domain  by  the  results  of  his  own  re¬ 
searches,  pursued  for  a  couple  of  years  at  the  request  of  the 
French  Government. 

This  work,  published  in  1865,  well  deserves  the  high 
Price  attributed  to  it  by  the  Committee  of  the  French  Ex¬ 
hibition, — and  the  new  doctrines  meet  with  the  approval  of 
all  Wine-growers  in  France  who  had  tried  the  method  pro¬ 
posed.  The  latter  is  applied  also  by  many  of  the  principal 
Wine-houses  of  Germany,  however  slow  and  even  distrust¬ 
ful  they  are  in  general,  in  accepting  anything  new  and 
foreign.  But  we  have  been  informed  by  an  eye  witness, 
that  the  Experiments  made  of  Mr.  Pasteur’s  Method  have 
been  crowned  with  unfailable  success,  and  that  the  discovery 
is  considered  to  be  of  high  value  and  practical  use.  We  also 
understand  that  the  Wines  in  Longworth’s  Wine-house  in 
Cincinnati  are  treated  according  to  Mr.  Pasteur’s  doctrine. 

In  oftVring  to  our  Headers  the  principal  ideas  of  the 
learned  author,  we  have  no  other  aim,  •  but  to  accomplish 


more  completely  the  same  purpose,  which  leads  us  in 
conducting  the  Monthly  Statistics.  This  paper  pretends  to 
be  the  medium,  by  which  American  Wine-growers  may  re¬ 
ceive  knowledge  of  all  useful,  practical,  interesting  and  va¬ 
luable  publications,  which  appear  in  the  field  of  Wine-Lit- 
terature  in  the  Wine-growing  countries  of  Europe.  The 
present  volume  shall  thus  assist  the  Monthly  Statistics  by 
off  ring  to  our  Beaders  in  a  more  complete  form,  than  the 
limited  room  of  the  paper  would  allow,  one  of  the  most  in¬ 
teresting  Essays  on  the  Treatement  of  the  Wine. 

New  York,  July  1868. 


J.  A.  SCHMIDT. 


f. 


THE 


DISEASES  OF  THE  WINE. 


A.  Acid  Wines1' . page  11 

B.  Turned,  excited,  harsh  Wines  .  .  .  .  “  15 


C.  Thick,  greasy,  ropy  Wines  .  .  .  .  “19 

D.  Bitter  Wines . “  £8 


■ 

* 


■ 


' 

. 

JiW 


-  9 


THE 


DISEASES  OF  THE  WINE. 


It  is  generally  known  that  all  spontaneous  deteriorations 
or  diseases  of  the  wine  are  preceeded  or  accompanied  by 
more  or  less  noticeable  movements  of  a  fermentative  cha¬ 
racter. 

The  Headers  of  the  Monthly  Statistics  will  have  seen 
from  the  Articles  on  Alcoholic  Fermentation,  published  in 
No.  7,  8,  9  &  10  of  the  last  year’s  volume,  that  fermentation 
is  not  produced  by  the  wine  itself ;  the  wine  does  not  work ; 
but  the  development  of  a  microscopic  vegetation  in  the  wine 
creates  the  phenomenon  of  fermentation.  This  ’  led  Mr. 
Pasteur  to  presume  that  the  origin  of  the  diseases  may  be 
found  in  some  organized  ferments,  the  germs  of  which  may 
be  introduced  and  developed  in  the  wine ;  so  much  more 


—  10  — 


probable,  as  only  such  wines  as  come  into  contact  with  the 
air  are  subject  to  disease.  And  indeed  the  first  result  of  his 
investigations  is,  that  all  deteriorations  of  wine  are  in  re¬ 
lation  and  in  connection  with  a  multiplication  of  certain  mi¬ 
croscopic  plants. 


—  ii  -- 


A. 

ACID  WINES. 

No  wine  will  ever  turn  acid  without  the  presence  of  some 
microscopic  Champignon,  Mushroom,  called  Mycoderma  aceti , 
a  parasite  plant,  different  from  the  Mycoderma  vini  (Wine- 
flower)  “fleur  du  vin”.  (See  engraving  No.  1.) 

The  Mycoderma  aceti  is  one  of  the  most  simple  kinds  of 
plants.  The  engraving  No.  1  represents  them  in  the  process 
of  formation.  They  are  usually  linked  together  in  the  form 
of  a  chaplet.  They  are  slightly  bent  in  the  middle,  and  their 
length  is  about  the  double  of  their  width.  The  mode  of 
their  multiplication  has  been  clearly  observed.  The  micros¬ 
copic  plant  divides  itself  by  wriggling,  and  thus,  two  new 
globules  or  articles  are  produced,  each  of  which,  while  grow¬ 
ing,  produces  a  couple  of  new  ones  in  the  same  way.  Many 
of  the  infusories,  notoriously  the  Vibrions,  reproduce  them¬ 
selves  in  the  like  manner. 

In  certain  liquids  the  development  of  the  microscopic 
plant  proceeds  with  an  extraordinary  rapidity.  If  some  of 
its  seed  is'thrown  on  the  surface  of  such  liquid  at  a  temper¬ 
ature  of  about  75  degrees,  some  times  the  next  day,  but 
surely  the  second  day ;  the  surface  of  the  liquid  will  be  cov¬ 
ered  with  a  tight  veil,  formed  exclusively  by  the  little  articles 
of  the  mycoderma  connected  in  chaplets.  It  is  almost  above 
imagination  to  calculate  the  number  of  articles,  produced  in 
this  method  and  in  a  comparatively  short  space  of  time. 


—  12 


The  existence  of  the  Mycoderma  aceti  on  the  surface  of 
of  the  wine  so  frequently  encountered  in  the  Jura  districts 
finds  its  explanation  in  the  treatment  usual  in  that  country. 
The  white  wines,  called  vins  jaunes  (yellow,  golden  wines)? 
are  always  kept  in  casks  not  filled  up  to  the  bung.  An  empty 
space  in  the  cask  is  considered  necessary  for  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  these  wines,  and  the  wine  lays  some  times  years — 
the  higher  grades  even  fifteen,  twenty  and  more— without 
being  filled  up.  However  strong  and  tight  the  cask  and  the 
bung  may  be,  the  surface  of  such  wine  in  a  cask,  partly 
empty,  will  soon  be  covered  with  the  “Mycoderma  vini” 
(flower  of  wine),  or  “Mycoderma  aceti”  (flower  of  vinegar) 
—or  with  both  of  them. 

As  the  formation  of  these  plants  takes  place  ordy  on  the 
surface  of  the  wine,  and  not  in  its  mass,  the  following  is  to 
be  observed  by  examining  the  nature  of  the  parasite  plant, 
in  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  wine  is  tending  to  acidity. 
The  bung  has  to  be  removed,  and  by  the  aid  of  a  glass  stick 
sunk  into  the  cask,  a  drop  from  the  surface  of  the  wine  is 
lifted  up.  The  mycodermic  pellicle  will  leave  a  trace  on  the 
stick  sufficient  for  a  microscopic  examination. 

If  the  Mycoderma  aceti  shows  itself  pure,  not  mixed, 
which  is  often  the  case  with  white  wines,  there  is  no  doubt, 
that  the  wine  is  sick,  and  on  the  way  to  turn  sour.  Is  the 
evil  advanced  far  already,  and  the  acidity  in  the  taste 
strongly  pronounced,  there  is  no  chance  for  reparation.  The 
best  plan  is  then,  to  leave  the  bunghole  open  and  thus  facili¬ 
tate  and  accelerate  the  acetification,  until  the  liquid  is  trans¬ 
formed  completely  into  vinegar. 

Has  the  acetification  not  yet  made  great  progress,  the 
wine  may  be  cured-  by  saturating  the  acetic  acid  with  a  con- 


*"T 

* 

THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

wiTVERsrrv  of  «u<fc «■> 


« 


WINE-FLOWE  R. 


(My coderma  vini .) 


If  the  flowers  are  as  pure*  as  shown  by  this  design, 
the  wine  suffers  little  or  not  at  all. 


Fig.  1. 


460/1 


*  The  words:  purity  of  the  wine  flower  mean  the  total  absence  of  the  parasite  in 
figure  2. 


FLOWER  OF  YINEGAL 


{My coderma  aceli..) 

The  ferment  is  still  very  young. 


Fi 


2. 


*- 


40i)/\ 


t 


THE  LIB5U8* 

OF  THE 

OMIVERSfTV  Ur  m  -•  ‘ 


13  — 


centrated  solution  of  pure  caustic  potash  in  the  following 
manner :  The  degree  of  acid  in  the  sick  wine,  as  well  as 
that  in  a  sound  wine  of  the  same  quality  and  character  has 
first  to  be  ascertained.  The  difference  between  the  acid  con¬ 
tents  of  the  two  wines  has  to  be  saturated  with  the  potash. 
This  operation  will  always  be  successful,  provided  the  acidity 
does  not  surpass  the  original  acid  of  the  wine  by  more  than 
two  grams  (0,07  ounces)  per  litre  (0,26  gallon). 

The  circumstance  may  be  noted  here,  that  the  bouquet 
of  the  yellow  wines  is  never  destroyed  by  the  mere  begin¬ 
ning  of  acetification.  It  re-appears  in  all  its  former  strength, 
as  soon  US  the  saturation  with  the  alcali  has  taken  place. 

Has  the  acetification  not  so  far  progressed  as  to  be  sens¬ 
ible  to  the  taste,  and  its  beginning  is  only  indicated  by  the 
microscope,  showing  the  presence  of  traces  of  Mycoclerma 
aceti,  just  in  the  state  of  formation  ;  the  wine  has  to  be  drawn 
off  the  cask.  But  this  must  be  done  carefully  and  by  stop¬ 
ping  at  the  right  time.  The  introduction  of  the  pellicle  from 
the  surface  of  the  sick  wine  into  the  new  casks  must  be 
strictly  prohibited. 

In  another  instance  the  microscopic  investigation  of  the 
pellicle  of  the  wine  will  show  a  vegetation  similar  to  that  of 
Engraving  No.  2,  or  other  analogical  varieties,  which  proves 
that  only  the  Mycoderma  vini  (Wine  flower)  is  developed. 
These  articles  represent  a  great  variety  of  a  plant  formed  by 
small  globular  cells  or  ramified  bodies  of  different  size,  the 
diameter  of  which  varies  from  0,002  to  0,006  millimeter,  and 
which  reproduce  themselves  by  budding.  From  these 
articles  the  wine  has  nothing  to  fear.  On  the  contrary,  our 
Author  believes,  that  this  flower  of  the  wine  acts  benefici- 


14  — 


ally  on  the  development  of  the  wine,  which  is  kept  in  casks 
not  filled  up. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  third  case.  Supposed  the  mi¬ 
croscope  shows  a  mixture  of  the  two  kinds  of  little  bodies, 
a  medley  of  the  two  Mypoderma,  flower  of  wine  and  flower 
of  vinegar.  They  may  be  found  in  this  combined  form  on 
yellow  wines  and  on  Clarets  of  a  very  high  grade;  while 
they  seldom  are  observed  on  ordinary  Clarets  and  white 
wines. 

The  common  Red  Wines  show  exclusively  the  Mycoderma 
vini.  This  plant  is  multiplied  with  so  much  more  facility,  as 
these  wines  contain  more  azotic  and  extractive  matter.  But 
in  Claret  of  age,  of  good  soil  and  of  a  fine  vintage,  those 
strange  matters  aie  removed  by  said  qualities,  and  therefore 
the  Mycoderma  vini  does  not  develop  itself  but  slowly  and 
imperfectly  on  the  surface,  and  is  inclined  to  mingle  with  the 
Mycoderma  aceti.  This  may  explain  the  acetification  in  old 
and  fine  Claret  wines,  and  also  that  the  better  grades  of  the 
fine  Redwines  of  the  Jura  district  are  often  spoiled,  when 
kept  for  a  long  time  in  the  cask.  But  if  they  remain  cov¬ 
ered  only  with  the  Mycoderma  vini,  pure  and  unmixed,  they 
will  be  of  superior  quality,  and  of  the  same  fine  flavor  as  the 
best  yellow  wines. 


ACIDITY. 


(Mycoderma  vini  and  My  coderma  aceti  combined.) 

The  disease  is  in  its  first  phasis,  the  wine  fljwer  commences  to  lose  its  purity. 

Fig.  3. 


* » 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

imtYERSiTY  of  it umn 


15  — 


TURNED,  EXCITED,  HARSH  WINES. 

When  the  warm  air  in  the  months  of  May,  June,  July, 
August  has  penetrated  sufficiently  the  cellars  or  Wine  stores 
and  has  raised  the  temperature  therein  by  several  degrees, 
it  often  and  everywhere  happens  that  the  wine  turns.  If  the 
cask  is  full  and  tightly  closed,  drops  may  appear  on  the 
joints  of  the  staves  and  even  the'-kgad  or  bottom  may  assume 
a  convex  form.  If  you  bore  a  small  hole,  the.  wine  will  spring 
forth  vehemently  in  a  long  jet.  Therefore  the  common  ex¬ 
pression  :  The  wine  has  la  pousse ,  the  shoot.  If  poured  into 
a  glass,  there  will  often  appear  on  the  rim  of  the  surface  a 
wreath  of  very  small  bubbles.  Exposed  to  the  air  the  color 
of  the  wine  changes  and  becomes  darker.  The  flavor  also 
is  more  or  less  altered ;  it  becomes  somewhat  flat. 

The  disease  is  very  frequent ;  the  least  carelessness  when 
the  wine  is  drawn  oft  into  another  cask,  may  provoke  it. 

All  authors  who  have  written  about  this  disease,  attribute 
it  to  the  rising  lees.  They  believe  that  this  sediment  rises 
and  spreads  through  the  whole  mass  of  the  wine. 

Mr.  Pasteur  says  :  “In  September  1838,  I  had  the  oc¬ 
casion  to  examine  turned  wine  and  to  ascertain  the  presence 
of  a  ferment,  quite  different  from  the  lees  of  the  alcoholic 
ferment,  evidently  organized  and  showing  some  analogy  with 
the  lactic  ferment.  A  particular  circumstance  called  my  at¬ 
tention  still  more  to  the  investigation  of  this  subject. 


16 


One  of  the  principal  Vineyard  proprietors  of  Montpellier 
had  sold  on  the  20th  of  October  1861,  soon  after  the  crop 
was  finished,  wine  of  good  quality  and  approved  by  the 
buyer.  On  the  14th  of  November  the  wine  was  found  to  be 
totally  altered.  A  suspicion  arose,  that  it  had  been  mixed 
with  water,  and  the  Proprietor  thought  it  due  to  his  own 
respectability  as  well  as  to  the  honesty  of  the  persons  in  his 
employ,  to  ask  for  a  chemical  examination  by  Mr.  Balard, 
who  invited  me  to  assist  him. 

We  discovered  at  once,  that  this  altered  wine,  so  flat  and 
thin  in  flavor,  that  a  falsification  by  addition  of  water  was 
suspected  to  have  been  committed,  was  exactly  under  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  a  special  fermentation,  of  the  same  nature  as  the 
lactic  fermentation. 

During  the  years  1863  and  1864  I  had  occasion,  to  exa¬ 
mine  a  great  number  of  turned  wines,  and  I  am  able  to  state 
that  this  trouble  is  due,  without  any  exception,  to  the  pre¬ 
sence  of  filaments  of  an  extreme  tenuity,  often  less  than 
1-1000  of  a  millimeter  in  diameter  and  of  different  length. 

Engraving  No.  4  represents  the  appearance  of  a  drop  of 
turned  wine  under  the  microscope.  The  filaments  are  float¬ 
ing  in  wine  that  is  perfectly  bright.  The  sediment  on  the 
bottom  of  the  wine  does  not  consist  of  the  common  wine- 
lees,  but  of  a  mass  of  entangled  filaments  wrhich  are  often  of 
considerable  length.  The  action  of  this  ferment  on  the  wine 
is  accompanied  by  a  disengagement  of  carbonic  acid  gas, 
which  makes  the  wine  somewhat  sparkle,  when  poured  into 
a  glass,  and  causes  also  the  phenomenon  of  its  vehemently 
springing  forth  through  the  smallest  opening  in  the  cask  ;  as 
the  inside  pressure  is  undoubtedly  increased  on  account  of 
the  production  of  the  gas. 


TURNED  WINE. 


400/1 


a,  a,  Common  alcoholic  ferment  of  the  Wine. 

b,  b,  Cristals  of  bitrartate  of  patash. 

c,  c,  Cristals  af  tartar  neutral  of  coal. 

d,  d,  Filaments  of  the  parasite,  determinating  the  disease  of  turnel  Wines. 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

"WFRSm'  OF  !Uim 


17 


This  disease  is  therefore  created  by  a  fermentation,  due 
to  a  special  organized  ferment,  and  it  is  under  the  influence 
of  the  development  of  this  parasite,  that  the  brightness,  the 
flavor  and  the  quality  of  the  wine  show  so  remarkable  alter¬ 
ations.  Not  only  Clarets  and  Whitewines  are  subject  to  the 
disease,  but  the  sharp,  unpleasant  taste,  sometimes  met  with 
in  Champagne  is  solely  attributable  to  the  presence  of  the 
parasite. 

Our  Author  says  that  there  hardly  is  any  Table-Claret  in 
the  trade,  that  is  not,  however  undiscernable  by  its  flavor, 
somewhat  affected  by  the  disease  and  containing  in  different 
quantities  these  filaments.  Perhaps  this  may  explain  the 
generally  known  fact,  that  the  development  of  Clarets  even 
of  the  high  grades,  is  terminated  sooner  than  that  of  other 
wines,  and  that  wines  of  the  most  reknown  brands,  after  a 
period  of  15—20  years,  lose  their  aroma  and  become  of  a 
flat  and  unpleasant  taste. 

To  avoid  the  evil,  Mr.  Pasteur  advises  the  following : 

c*  The  most  important  is  the  frequent  observation  of  the 
wine  by  the  microscope,  and,  if  this  is  rightly  applied,  it  will 
be  easily  discovered  whether  the  wine  inclines  to  be  affected 
by  the  disease  in  question.  Open  the  bung  of  the  cask  and 
fill  one  glass  of  wine,  throw  it  away,  fill  another  glass  and 
let  this  stand  for  a  few  hours.  Then  decant  the  wine  care¬ 
fully,  and  examine  by  the  microscope  the  last  few  drops  left 
in  the  glass.  Even  if  the  wine  is  touched  in  the  least  de¬ 
gree  by  the  disease^  a  great  number  of  filaments  will  be  dis¬ 
covered  in  these  drops.  In  many  cases  the  examination  of  a 
single  drop  of  wine,  without  waiting  for  the  sediment,  will 
suffice  to  show,  whether  the  disease  has  commenced.  If  there 
any  filaments  of  the  kind,  which  our  engraving  represents, 


LS 


are  discovered,  it  will  be  well  to  give  the  wine  an  airing,  by 
drawing  it  off  into  a  fresh  cask.  This,  in  the  most  cases, 
provided  the  disease  has  not  gone  too  fay,  will  be  sufficient 
to  effect  the  precipitation  of  all  the  filaments  in  the  course 
of  a  few  days,  as  the  oxygen  of  the  air  destroys  their 
vitality. 

We  have  said  above  that  the  development  of  this  para¬ 
site,  the  germ  of  which  is  often  found  in  the  wine  at  its  na¬ 
tural  alcoholic  fermentation,  commences  in  the  warmer 
months,  and  therefore  the  old  rule,  familiar  with  all  Yine- 
growers  :  “The  wine  has  to  be  drawn  off  its  casks  before  the 
vine  is  in  blossom” — has  a  scientific  foundation. 


TURNED  WINES. 


Fig. 


5. 


* 


4dfl/l 


a,  a,  Common  alcoholic  ferment  of  the  Wine. 

b,  b,  Cristals  of  bitrartate  of  potash. 

c,  c,  Cristal3  of  tartar  neutral  af  coal. 

d,  d,  Filaments  of  the  parasite,  determinating  the  disease  of  turned  Wine's. 


» 


THE  UBRARY 
8F  THE 

imwmrnr  w 

♦ 


19 


c. 

THICK,  GKEASY,  KOPY  WINES. 

This  disease,  although  scarce  in  Kedwines,  is  very  fre¬ 
quent  with  Whitewines,  particularly  with  the  weak,  light 
bodied  wines  of  some  vineyards  :  as  for  instance  the  White- 
wines  of  the  lower  Loire  and  of  Orleannais,  a  great  portion 
of  which  is  used  to  make-  vinegar. 

The  wine  loses  its  natural  brightness,  becomes  of  dull 
and  flat  taste,  and  when  drawn  from  the  cask,  it  ropes  forth 
like  oil.  The  disease  shows  itself  in  casks,  but  also  in  the 
best  corked  bottles. 

Engraving  No.  5  shows  the  ferment  of  the  ropy  while 
wines.  These  are  chaplets  of  small,  spherical  globules,  the 
diameter  of  which  varies  considerably  according  to  the  cha¬ 
racter  of  the  wine,  affected  by  the  disease.  It  is  sometimes 
less  than  1-1000  millimeter. 

If  the  wine  becomes  greasy  in  the  bottle,  the  ferment  is 
accompanied  by  a  kind  of  jelly,  which  may  concrete  by  agit¬ 
ation,  and  thus  reduce  the  appearing  viscosity  of  the  wine. 
This  mucilaginous  matter,  in  connection  with  the  entangled 
chaplets  of  the  ferment,  form  sometimes  a  real  skin,  sliding 
off  when  touched,  and  entirely  analogous  to  the  mother  of 
vinegar. 

Mr.  Pasteur  says  :  “This  form  of  sickness  I  have  noticed 
at  Orleans  in  a  great  many  casks  of  white  Wine  belong¬ 
ing  to  the  firm  Breton-Lorion. — These  casks  containing  very 


20 


ropy  wme  (“vin  filcint ”),  which  was  gradually  being 
drawn  off,  had  all  on  the  surface  a  membraneous  skin  in  lieu 
of  the  ordinary  flower  of  the  my  coderma  vini.  Judging 
solely  by  the  looks  of  this  membrane,  one  might  have  be¬ 
lieved  that  the  wine  was  to  be  transformed  into  Vinegar. 
However,  the  “  acide  acetique  ”  was  missing  and  the  micros¬ 
cope  enabled  me  to  discover  that  the  membrane  on  the  surface 
was  not  formed  by  the  mycoderma  aceti,  but  constituted  a 
kind  of  yeast  from  the  raw  wine  in  a  particular  stage  of  fer¬ 
mentation,  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  contact  with  the  air  and  to 
the  partial  emptiness  of  the  casks. — These  skins  when 
bottled  up  with  white  wine  made  it  after  a  certain  time  ex¬ 
tremely  liquid. 

In  fine,  the  grease  ’of  the  wines  is  not  at  all  produced,  as  wras 
supposed  hitherto,  by  the  precipitation  of  a  glutinous  'sub¬ 
stance  (in  some  measure  like  the  gluten  of  the  wheat)  and 
which  settled  under  the  influence  of  unknown  causes  in  the 
Wine.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  an  accessory  fermentation  due 
to  the  development  of  a  parasite,  of  which  the  germ  was  al¬ 
ready  engendered  to  the  grape,  and  likely  enough,  only  to 
individual  berries  which  had  rotted  on  the  stock  as  caused 
by  the  same  parasite,  or  by  some  of  its  varieties  or  during 
somer  of  its  metamorphoses. — What  a  profusion  of  germs  of 
all  kinds  is  not  brought  together  in  a  tub  of  Must! — 
How  many  different  changes  does  one  not  meet  in  this  or  that 
leaf,  in  this  or  that  berry,  which  was  open  to  a  thousand  in¬ 
fluences,  and  may  have  been  the  seat  of  various  fer¬ 
mentations  and  putrefactions  !  And  what  an  alarming  num¬ 
ber  of  germs  may  be  conveyed  through  the  air  and  deposited 
on  the  somewhat  sticky  exterior  of  a  berry  ! 


TUKNED,  MOUNTED  &c.  WINES. 


Fi 


6. 


40") /I 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

WIVERSJTY  OF  ILUIOiS 


21 


Let  the  Wine  be  of  a  nature  to  permit  the  development 
of  some  of  these  germs  and  these  germs  will  not  fail  to 
multiply  at  one  moment  or  another,  according  to  the  circum¬ 
stances  of  temperature  and  airing  of  the  liquid. 

Two  classes  of  germs  are  never  stifled  in  the  tub  of  must  • 
while  in  course  of  fermentation  and  in  the  wine  produced 
therefrom,  namely  on  one  hand  all  those  of  the  infusories , 
bacteries,  kolpodes  and  various  insects,  and  on-  the  other 
hand  those  of  the  seeds  of  the  mildews  of  .  the  air.  No  in¬ 
fusories  will  appear  in  the  wine,  for  the  wine  is  acid  and  the 
acid  kills  them.  As  for  the  seeds  of  milldewq  they  cannot 
germinate,  for  they  and  their  adults  require  oxygen  for  their 
existence.  Now  the  tub  of  must  or  vat  in  which  the 
fermentation  takes  place,  are  vessels  hermetically  sealed  to 
the  entrance  of  air.  That  is  another  reason  for  the  non- 
appearance  of  infusories.  What  other  kind  of  life  will  then 
show  itself  and  even  in  profusion  ? 

It  must  be  that  kind  which  is  peculiar  to  the  yeasts,  to 
these  strange  beings,  which  can  live  without  air  in  the  very 
heart  of  organic  matter,  from  which  they  borrow  the  oxygen 
in  its  combinations  and  whence  also  their  character  as  fer¬ 
ments  results,  according  to  a  general  theory  of  fermentation 
which  I  have  been  led  to  adopt  some  years  ago  and  which 
seems  to  me  more  and  more  the  expression  of  facts  that  have 
been  observed  and  studied  the  best ! 

At  the  same  time  none  but  vegetable  ferments  will  be 
observed  which  can  exist  amid  a  certain  proportion  of  acid 
and  alcohol.  Hence  neither  at  any  time  any  butter-present¬ 
ation  in  the  wine,  because  the  substances  which  determine 
this  fermentation  perish  in  acid  liquids,  whilst  just  these 
substances  would  be  found  to  multiply  if  in  the  tub  of 


22 


must  a  certain  quantity  of  lime  were  added  to  render  the 
liquid  neutral! 

In  all  these  studies  one  would  notice  only  extraordinary 
manifestations,  as  soon  as  one  loses  sight  of  the  conditions 
on  which  the  existence  of  the  inferior  beings  is  based.  One 
is  apt  to  imagine  to  assist  in  new  creations,  all  the  while 
that  in  this,  like  in  other  processes,  simply  the  established 
general  laws  of  nature  find  their  application. 

I  need  not  remark  how  much  analogy  there  exists  at  first 
sight  between  the  ferment  of  the  stringed  wines  and  that  of 

i  •  '  Sjfaf 

turned  wine.  In  both  cases  is '  there  the  appearance  of 
strings,  but  those  of  the  sickness  of  the  “  graisse 5 5  are 
strings  of  grains  or  berries,  while  in  turned  ivine  we  see 
strings  of  substances  of  a  very  indefinite  connection  or 
continuation.  One  would  in  most  instances  at  least,  pro¬ 
nounce  them  perfect  for  great  lengths,  but  nothing  of  an 
absolute  character  is  as  yet  established.  These  distinctions 
will  become  plainer  in  that,  which  will  be  said  hereafter  on 
the  subject. 


OILY,  GREASY  WINES. 

♦ 

{Champagne.) 


Fig.  7. 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

WKVEJ8ITY  Of  ILURttfl 


23  — 


B. 

BITTER  WINES. 

This  disease  is  so  much  more  ennuying  to  the  wine- 
merchant,  as  particularly  old  wines  are  affected  by  it,  and 
■these  are  always  wines  of  the  best  growths.  All  red  wines 
without  exception,  are  subject  to  it,  while  it  never  has  been 
noticed  in  white  wines.  But  the  disease  seems  to  have  a 
predilection  for  the  most  delicate  wines  of  the  Cote-d’or  and 
in  general  for  wines  of  all  higher  grades.  Every  wine- 
district  has  one  location  or  vineyard  more  celebrated  than 
all  the  rest,  and  just  the  wine  of  this  superior  soil  becomes 
bitter,  when  reaching  a  certain  age,  while  the  lower  grades 
are  more  inclined  to  tury,  a  disease  of  which  we  f  spoke 
before. 

Mr.  Pasteur  gives  a  more  detailed  description  of  the  dis¬ 
ease  and  its  symptoms,  by  quoting  the  letter  of  a  wine¬ 
grower  in  the  Burgundy  districts  : — 

“We  distinguish  two  different  kinds,  of  Bitterness  in 
wines :  one  that  makes  its  appearance  in  the  second  or  third 
year  of  the  wines’  age,  while  the  other  affects  only  very  old 
wines,  for  which  reason  the  disease  is  also  named  gout  de 
vieux — taste  of  age.  The  latter  is  not  so  dangerous  as  the 
former  one,  as  the  wines  affected  by  it  have  been  sound  and 
valuable  for  many  years ;  but  in  the  former  case  the  Bitter¬ 
ness  alters  and  destroys  completely  the  wine  in  its  first  years' 


“  In  the  beginning  of  the  disease  the  wine  shows  a  sin¬ 
gular  smell,  its  color  loses  the  liveliness  and  freshness,  the 
taste  becomes  flat.  The  cellarmen  call  it :  the  wine  softens. 
The  bitter  flavor  is  not  yet  exactly  pronounced,  but  it  is  im¬ 
minent,  if  care  is  not  taken.  All  these  symptoms  are  aug¬ 
menting  rapidly.  Soon  the  wine  becomes  bitter,  and  a  light 
touch  of  fermentation  will  be  noticed  in  its  taste,  due  to  the 
carbonic  acid  gas.  At  last  the  disease  increases  still  more, 
the  coloring  matter  becomes  completely  altered,  the  tartar 
decomposed,  and  the  wine  is  no  more  drinkable. 

“It  is  not  necessary  that  these  symptoms  are  thus  far 
advanced  to  deprive  the  wine  of  a  great  deal  of  its  value. 
The  bouquet  altered,  the  natural  character  partly  gone — a 
wine,  originally  worth  500  francs  per  piece,  will  hardly  find 
buyers  at  100  francs ;  and  a  bottle  of  Pomard  of  15  francs 
will  hardly  be  worth  1  franc. 

“  The  Bitterness  is  principally  affecting  the  wine  made  of 
a  kind  of  grape,  called  Pinot,  which  is  cultivated  in  the  Bur¬ 
gundy  and  Champagne  districts'  and  the  evil  is  attributed 
to  an  organic’  disease  of  this  grape.’ ’ 

Mr.  Pasteur  says  that,  having  examined  a  great  number 
of  samples  of  bitter  wines,  he  has  ascertained  that  this  dis¬ 
ease  also  is  produced  by  a  parasite,  which  is  multiplying  it¬ 
self  with  an  astonishing  facility  in  the  grand  wines  of  Bur¬ 
gundy,  while  its  development  in  the  common  wines  of 
Burgundy,  of  Jura  and  of  Bordeaux  progresses  far  more 
slowly  and  with  more  difficulty.  This  shows  that  the  dif¬ 
ferences  in  de  development  of  the  disease  depends  of  local¬ 
ity  and  the  character  of  the  wine,  however  all  Clarets  are 
subject  to  it. 


BITTER  WINES, 


(Fomard.) 


Fig.  8. 


4 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILUIIBS 


—  25 


Thus  epidemic  diseases  affect  in  preference  such  persons, 
as,  by  their  constitution  and  temperament,  are  more  disposed 
to  attract  them. 

Engraving  No.  8  represents  the  ferment  in  bitter  wines. 
It  consists  of  knotty,  branchy,  very  much  contorted  fila¬ 
ments,  the  diameter  of  which  varies  from  0,0015  to  0,004 
millimeter.  They  are  usually  associated  to  a  mass  of  little 
brown  grains  of  spherical  form  and  of  a  diameter  of  about 
0,0018  millimeter.  This  curious  microscopic  plant  will  be 
found  in  all  wines,  showing  an  inclination  to  turning  bitter. 

It  is  a  secret  yet,  by  which  principle  the  ferment  acts  on 
the  wine,  and  what  substance  causes  the  bitter  taste.  The 
quantity  of  gas  produced  by  it  could  also  not  be  ascertained. 
It  is  therefore  difficult,  to  indicate  a  reliable  remedy  against 
the  disease.  All  advise  that  might  be  given  is  a  repeated 
microscopic  examination  of  the  sediment  in  the  cask  or  in 
the  bottle,  by  which  it  will  be  seen  easily,  whether  the  evil 
exists.  The  sediment  is  dark  and  floating  and  the  forms  of 
it,  given  in  the  cut  No.  8,  will  be  a  reliable  guide  for  the  mi¬ 
croscopic  observation.  None  of  the  other  vegetations  can  be 
mistaken  for  the  one  just  described. 

If  the  microscope  shows  the  presence  of  the  ferment,  the 
wine  is  to  be  clarified,  to  be  racked  off, .  and  then  to  be 
bottled. 

The  praxis  of  clarifying  and  racking,  so  common  with  all 
wine-growers,  does  not  serve  only  for  the  airing,  the  improv¬ 
ing  and  ripening  of  the  wine  ;  but,  by  precipitating  the  pa¬ 
rasitical  ferments,  the  operation  protects  it  against  its  nat¬ 
ural  diseases. 


THE  NEW  METHOD 


OF 


PRESERVING  THE  WINE. 


A. 

Heating  Wine  in  Bottels  . 

page  33. 

B. 

Heating  Wine  in  casks  .... 

.  “  39. 

C. 

Heating  Wine  in  Demijohns 

.  .  “  43. 

Conclu  sion 


I 


•  ' 


>  /.  i  /  - 


' 


i'P*  .  ftm 

* 


—  29 


THE  NEW  METHOD 

OF 

PRESERVING  THE  WINE. 


The  knowledge  of  the  character  and  the  origin  of  the 
diseases  of  wine  gives  us  a  quite  distinct  view  of  the  condi¬ 
tions  under  which  the  cure  may  be  effected.  The  problem 
is  plainly,  how  the  development  of  the  parasites  may  be 
interrupted  and  prohibited.  I  have  succeeded  in  discovert 
ing  a  very  plain  and  not  in  the  least  expensive  way,  the  ap¬ 
plication  of  which  has  been  crowned  with  the  most  satisfac¬ 
tory  results.  -One  of,  its  principal  merits  is,  undpubtedly, 
that  it  does  not  consist  in  the  introduction  of  any  strange 
substance  into  the  wine,  and  that  the  latter  remains  not  only 
unadulterated,  but  keeps ;  and,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  ex¬ 
periments  and  the  judgment  of  knowing  appraisers  given 
bejow,  improves  its  natural  qualities. 


30 


“  To  destroy  all  the  vitality  in  the  germs  of  the  parasit¬ 
ical  plants,  it  is  sufficient  to  expose  the  wine  for  a  few  mo¬ 
ments  to  a  temperature  of  from  125  to  140  degrees  above 
Zero.  The  wine  never  was  altered  by  this  provisional  opera¬ 
tion,  and  as  it  at  the  same  time  undergoes  the  influence  of 
the  oxygen  of  the  air,  which  I  consider  as  an  indispensable 
condition  for  its  gradual  improvement  in  general,  it  is  quite 
evident,  that  this  process  unites  the  most  advantageous 
conditions. 

“On  the  15th  of  March,  1865,  I  received  twenty-five 
bottles  of  wine,  representing  samples  of  four  different  grades 
snd  three  different  vintages — 1858,  1862  and  1863.  After  I 
had  left  them  rest  for  forty-eight  hours,  I  decanted  the  wine 
carefully  with  the  aid  of  a  syphon,  leaving  in  every  one  of 
the  bottles  only  one  or  two  cubic-centimeter  of  the  liquid* 
By  agitating  the  bottle  well,  I  dissolved  and  mixed  the 
small  sediment — which  always  will  be  found  in  bottled  wine 
that  has  been  laying  undisturbed  for  some  time — -with  the 
small  quantity  of  the  liquid  left  in  the  bottle.  The  micros¬ 
copic  examination  showed  in  all  the  sediments  the  filaments 
of  which  I  spoke  in  the  former  articles  more  or  less  nu¬ 
merous,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  wine;  but. none  of 
the  bottles  was  without  them,  which  shows,  that  the  germs 
of  the  diseases  are  included  in  the  interior  of  the  wine.  I 
warmed,  without  removing  the  cork,  one  bottle  of  every  kind 
of  wine  to  140  degrees,  and  after  they  had  become  cold  again 
I  placed  these  bottles  together  with  those  not  warmed  and 
left  them  in  a  cellar,  the  temperature  of  which  was  varying 
from  55  to  65  degrees. 

“  The  examination  of  the  wine  took  place  every  fifth  day, 
without  the  corks  having  been  removed.  The  bottle  was 


—  31 


lifted,  and  the  little  gutter  of  the  bottom  placed  between  the 
eye  and  the  light,  to  discover  the  appearance  of  any  sedi¬ 
ment.  In  less  than  six  weeks  it  was  visible  that  a  floating 
deposit  was  commencing  to  form  itself.  But  this  deposit,  to¬ 
day  so  abundant  in  all  the  bottles  which  had  not  been 
warmed,  did  not  appear  in  the  bottles,  that  had  been  exposed 
to  a  heat  of  about  140  degrees.  At  the  hour  when  I  write 
these  lines  (in  1866),  the  bottles  not  heated,  of  all  the  four 
different  grades,  show  such  a  considerable  quantity  of  de¬ 
posit,  that  the  small  gutter  of  each  bottle  is  filled  to  some 
height  with  it,  and  if  the  bottle  is  shaken,  the  wine  becomes 
cloudy.  Its  taste  is  bitter,  and  far  less  pleasant  than  the 
same  kind  in  the  heated  bottles,  which  does  not  show  in  the 
least  any  depreciation.  Several  other  experiments  were 
made,  the  heat  sometimes  increased  to  155  and  158  degrees, 
but  always  the  same  result  followed.  However  great  pro¬ 
gress  the  disease  had  made,  its  activity  was  immediately 
stopped  by  the  application  of  high  temperature.” 

Mr.  P.  Chave  made  investigations  with  a  great  number 
of  different  qualities  of  wine,  to  find'  out  whether  the  heat, 
as  it  was  the  general  belief,  would  not  make  the  wine  under¬ 
go  some  particular  modifications ;  whether  its  color,  bright¬ 
ness,  flavor  and  bouquet  would  not  be  changed  by  the  high 
temperature,  which  naturally  would  reduce  the  usefulness  of 
the  method  considerably.  Not  contented  with  the  conviction 
which  he  had  come  to  by  his  own  experiments  and  in¬ 
vestigations,  he  submitted  the  wines  which  had  been  under 
his  treatment,  to  the  examination  of  professional  judges, 
members  of  the  Board  of  Winebrokers,  and  others,  who 
fully  endorsed  his  own  opinion,  and,  rather  astonished  by 
the  importance  of  the  results,  encouraged  him  to  ask  for 


32  — 


public  examination,  which  would  bring  the  discovery  to  the 
knowledge  of  all  engaged  in  the  trade  and  the  culture  of  wine. 

A  committee  appointed  by  the  president  of  the  repre¬ 
sentative  board  of  the  wholesale  trade  in  wines  of  Paris,  and 
consisting  of  Messrs.  Tei’ssonaire,  Brazier,  Jeune,  Cherrier 
andDelaleu,  examined  on  the  16th  and  23d  of  November,  1865, 
twenty-one  different  kinds  of  wine,  one  bottle  of  each  of 
which  had  been  exposed  to  heat  from  five  to  ten  months  pre¬ 
vious,  and  the  book  of  Mr.  Pasteur  contains  the  official  re¬ 
turns  of  the  appraising  committee. 

The  committee  endorses,  in  general,  the  opinion 
of  Mr.  Pasteur,  and  some  of  the  returned  samples  show 
an  excellent  result.  As  it  appears  from  the  report  of  the 
committee,  there  is  a  great  deal  depending  of  the  quality 
and  the  nature  of  the  wine,  and  the  height  of  temperature 
to  which  the  different  samples  have  been  exposed.  Experi¬ 
ence  must  teach  us  the  right  measure — that  probably  has  to 
be  regulated  according  to  the  age  and  quality  of  the  wine. 
At  the  end,  the  report  of  the  committee  states,  that  this 
operation  prevents  entirely  the  diseases ,  which  cause  the  alteration 
of  the  wine,  and  that  in  some  cases  it  even  cures  them. 


33 


HEATING  THE  WINE  IN  BOTTLES. 

The  heating  of  the  Wine  in  bottles  may  be  effected 
easily  and  at  small  expense.  It  may  be  applied  to  all  kinds 
of  Wine,  whether  recently  bottled  or  being  for  a  long  time 
— whether  the  wine  may  be  sound  or  sick.  When  the 
operation  is  done  with  wine  a  long  time  in  bottles,  it  is  re- 
commendable  to  separate  the  sediment  from  the  wine  by 
transfusing  the  latter  into  new  bottles,  after  the  old  bottles 
have  been  remaining  in  an  upright  position  for  about  forty- 
eight  hours,  for  the  purpose  of  haying  the  floating  mat¬ 
ter  settled  at  the  bottom  of  the  bottle. 

Every  one  of  the  bottles  which  are  to  be  heated  is  to  be 

% 

corded,  its  cork  fastened  by  twine  or  iron  wire,  and  then 
placed  in  a  tub  filled  with  water,  and  heatable.  (See  en¬ 
graving  No.  9.) 

To  handle  the  bottles  more  easily  they  are  placed  by 
certain  numbers,  according  to  the  size  of  the  tub,  in  a  bottle- 
basket  made  of  wire.  The  water  must  reach  up  to  the  wire 
of  the  cork,  although  there  is  no  harm  in  letting  the  water 
rise  above  the  corks ;  provided,  there  is  no  delay,  or  refri¬ 
geration,  during  the  heating  operation,  which  would  allow 
the  water  enter  into  the  bottles. 

Amongst  the  bottles  there  must  be  one  filled  with  water, 
into  which  a  thermometer  is  placed.  When  the  thermometer 
shows  the  degree  of  temperature,  which  is  wanted,  for  in- 


—  34  — 


stance  140°,  the  basket  is  taken  out.  It  would  not  be  well, 
to  replace  the  basket  by  another  immediately.  The  water, 
too  hot,  would  break  the  cold  bottles.  A  part  of  the  hot 
water  is  taken  out,  and  the  temperature  of  the  remaining  in 
the  tub  is  lowered  by  adding  some  cold  water.  Or  better 
still,  to  avoid  all  delay :  the  bottles  of  the  second  basket  are 
warmed  before,  in  order  to  put  them  into  the  bath  at  once, 
without  danger,  and  thus  using  the  hot  water  for  all  the  fol¬ 
lowing  baskets. 

The  extension  of  the  wine,  during  the  operation  of  heat¬ 
ing  will  tend  to  drive  out  the  cork,  but  the  twine  or  the  wire 
will  retain  it,  and  the  wine  exudates  between  the  cork  and 
the  interior  walls  of  the  bottle’s  neck.  When  the  bottles 
have  been  cooled,  by  which  the  volume  of  the  wine  is  some¬ 
what  reduced,  a  stroke  is  given  to  the  cork  to  drive  it  in 
again,  the  twine  or  wire  is  taken  off,  and  the  wine  is  placed 
into  a  cellar  or  any  other  place  fit  for  storing  it.  It  is  not 
to  be  feared  that  the  different  places  for  storing  and  keeping 
will  hurt  the  wine*;  they  may  only  have  some  influence  on 
the  time  of  its  growing  old,  on  its  color,  etc. 

It  will  always  be  useful  to  reserve  some  bottles  of  the 
same  lot  af  wine,  which  have  not  been  heated,  in  order  to 
compare  them  in  long  intervals  with  those  which  have  gone 
through  the  operation.  The  bottles  may  be  kept  standing 
upright,  without  any  danger  of  the  formation  of  flowers — 
but  it  is  still  better  to  store  the  bottles  away  in  a  horizontal 
position,  as  the  wine  might  lose  of  its  fineness,  by  the  corks 
getting  dry  and  thus  letting  in  some  of  the  outer  air. 

Where  it  may  be  desirable,  and  in  large  establishments, 
the  work  may  be  done  in  a  more  extensive  style,  by  plainly 
using  a  tub  of  greater  width.  But  a  better  system,  if  it  does 


—  35  — 

not — however  improbable — offer  other  inconveniences,  would 
be,  to  apply  a  large  tub  with  rising  partitions,  made  of  boards 
pierced  with  holes  for  facilitating  the  circulation  of  the  water 
between  the  bottles.  The  latter  have  then  to  be  placed  to¬ 
gether  on  the  boards  and  covered  entirely  by  the  water  of 
the  tub,  which  is  to  be  warmed  gradually  by  steam,  intro¬ 
duced  directly  or  circulating  in  Serpentines.  There  is  no  in¬ 
convenience  in  the  complete  bathing  of  the  bottles,  as  the 
progressive  elevation  of  the  temperature  of  the  water  in  the 
tub  will  have  the  inevitable  effect  of  sustaining  a  steady 
pressure  from  within  to  the  outside.  But  still  experience 
will  be  the  best  teacher. 


Figure  No.  9. 


Another  method  of  heating  the  bottles  would  be  to  pile 
them  up  in  a  regular  bathing  closet  into  which  steam  or  hot 
air  can  be  introduced,  or  tubes  filled  with  hot  water,  which 


—  36 


must  be  distributed  and  located  in  such  a  manner,  that  all 
the  parts  of  the  closet  are  provided  with  the  necessary  tem¬ 
perature.  The  latter  will  always  be  best  ascertained  by 
bottles  filled  with  water,  into  which  a  thermometer  is  placed 
the  scale  of  which  is  visible  outside. 

For  his  first  experiments  Mr.  Pasteur  used  a  bathing 
closet  filled  with  hot  air.  It  consisted  of  a  wooden  case  with 
three  or  four  rising  partitions.  A  plate  of  sheet  iron  was 
placed  on  its  lower  part,  and  was  heated  from  below  by  gas. 

In  Southern  countries,  Mr.  Pasteur  thinks,  a  closet  for 
this  purpose  might  be  heated  by  the  beams  of  the  Sun.  It 
is  well  known,  that  by  double  or  triple  envelope  of  glass  the 
interior  temperature  may  be  raised  to  more  than  200  °  . 

The  heating  of  the  wine  right  after  bottling  is  effected  so 
easily,  and  with  such  a  trifle  of  expenses,  and  at  the  same 
time  renders  such  an  important  service  to  the  preservation 
of  the  Wine,  that  it  should  be  generally  applied  by  Wine 
merchants  as  well  as  Vine-growers,  and  no  lot  of  newly  bot¬ 
tled  wine  should  be  shipped  unless  it  has  undergone  the  pro¬ 
cedure  of  heating.  To  how  many  difficulties,  refusals,  draw¬ 
backs,  reclamations  nnd  troubles  to  all  kinds  are  not  ship¬ 
pers  of  Wine  exposed.  How  many  losses  and  extra 
charges  for  themselves  as  well  as  for  their  customers  could 
not  be  saved.  There  would  not  be  any  more  complaint 
from  the  receivers  of  the  wine  about  cloudiness,  bad  condi¬ 
tion,  etc. — the  Trade  in  bottled  wine  would  become  at  once 
easy  and  safe. 

We  think  it  proper  to  add  to  the  above  words  of  Mr- 
Pasteur  the  following  article,  just  published  in  the  Wine 
Trade  Beview  of  July  1868. 


—  37 


The  value  of  the  process  of  improving  the  keeping  qual¬ 
ities  of  wine  by  heat,  scientifically  established  and  admir¬ 
ably  illustrated  by  Mr.  Pasteur  is  in  the  course  of  being  sub¬ 
mitted  to  a  definite  examination.  The  Minister  of  Marine 
aud  of  Colonies,  taking  up  the  question  as  one  of  import¬ 
ance  to  the  imperial  navy  and  all  the  shipowners  of  the  em¬ 
pire,  has  appointed  a  commission  :  whose  duty  is  to  examine 
all  the  apparatus  and  methods  in  use  or  suggested  for  the 
heating  of  wine,  and  to  report  on  their  importance  and  re¬ 
lative  economy.  M.  de  Lapparent,  director  of  naval  con¬ 
struction  and  of  the  forests  of  the  state  appertaining  to  the 
ministry  of  marine,  is  president  of  the  commission,  of  which 
the  following  gentlemen  are  members : — Dr.  Ad.  Vincent, 
member  of  the  Superior  Council  of  Health,  and  M.  De  la 
ITue,  director  of  the  marine.  The  commission  has  visited 
Beziers,  and  have  there  tried  experiments  with  three  systems 
of  apparatus,  those  of  Messrs.  Giret  &  Vinas,  and  the  ap¬ 
paratus  for  the  heating  and  maturing  of  wine  invented  by 
Mr.  Privat,  and  working  in  the  large  establishment  of  Mr. 
Sauvaget.  The  commission  then  left  for  Toulon,  where  a  heat¬ 
ing  apparatus  is  erected,  and  where  careful  investigation  is 
to  be  made  of  samples  of  wine,  heated  and  unheated.  It  is 
said  that  the  commission  has  already  made  up  its  mind  en¬ 
tirely  on  the  value  of  the  process.  Wines  that  had  been 
heated  and  sent  to  the  colonies  have  been  found  on  their  re¬ 
turn  to  be  in  perfect  state  of  preservation,  when  other 
samples  of  the  same  wine  which  had  not  so  been  treated  al¬ 
ready  showed  signs  of  decay.  The  work  of  the  commission 
is  now  to  discover  the  best  and  most  economical  method  of 
carrying  out  the  heating  on  a  large  scale.  The  report  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  appear  soon,  and  will  doubtless  have  a  regat  effect 


38 


in  pushing  the  system  into  practice,  not  so  much  by  the  re¬ 
commendation  of  a  certain  plan,  for  no  operation  could  be 
much  easier,  as  we  have  before  pointed  out,  but  the  report 
of  such  a  commission  will  fix  the  subject  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  have  either  not  the  means  of  acquiring  informa¬ 
tion  on  the  effects  of  the  process,  or  too  little  self-reliance 
to  trust  themselves  to  form  an  opinion  upon  ordinary 
evidence. 


39 


:b. 

HEATING  THE  WINE  IN  CASKS. 

Mr.  Pasteur  has  effected  the  heating  of  wines  in  casks 
in  the  manner,  as  indicated  in  the  Engraving  No.  10.  The 
cask  is  placed  in  a  tub,  filled  with  water.  The  surface  of 
the  water  must  remain  a  fraction  of  an  inch  below  the  bung 
The  latter  does  not  close  the  bunghole  tightly,  but  is  laid 
on  loosely.  The  water  is  heated  up  to  175  degrees,  the 
state  of  boiling  would  create  too  much  steam  and  cause  an 
unnecessary  loss  of  heat.  When  the  wine  is  supposed  to 
have  reached  the  temperature  of  130  to  140  degrees,  the 
bung  is  taken  off,  and  a  thermometer  sunk  into  the  cask, 
to  ascertain  its  exact  temperature,  which  must  come  to  the 
degree  mentioned.  Some  of  the  wine  on  account  of  its  exten¬ 
sion  will  rise  up  through  the  bunghole,  as  the  bung  is  not 
tightly  driven  in.  It  will  be  easily  arranged  that  all  loss  of 
wine  is  prevented. 

The  experiment  was  made  with  a  cask  of  about  10  gal¬ 
lons.  The  water  in  the  tub  was  heated  to  from  160  to  175 
degrees,  and  it  took  from  5  to  6  hours,  before  the  wine  on 
the  cask  reached  the  temperature  of  140  degrees.  When  the 
wine  has  attained  the  right  temperature,  the  cask  is  taken 
out,  and  after  it  has  been  tightly  closed  by  the  bung,  it  is 
placed  into  the  cellar  or  into  any  place  for  storage  on  hand- 

The  result  in  regard  to  preservation  was  an  excellent  one- 
Mr.  Pasteur  left  several  casks  of  red  and  white  wines,  which 


—  40 


had  been  treated  in  the  manner  just  described,  from  April 
to  December,  laying  on  a  terrace,  situated  towards  north 
in  the  open  air.  None  of  them  after  this  time  showed  the 
least  sign  of  acidity,  of  flowers,  or  of  any  kind  of  disease. 
The  wine  remained  very  bright  and  deposited  some  color¬ 
ing  matter  in  the  natural  way  ;  but  it  was  not  necessary  to 
rack  it  off.  This  kind  of  sediment  does  not  do  any  harm  to 
the  wine. 


Figure  No.  10 


For  examining  the  wine  and  for  ascertaining,  whether  it 
is  fit  for  consumption,  it  is  best  to  use  a  gimlet  and  a 
plug. 

Bottled  wine,  which  had  been  heated  before  in  the  cask 
should  undergo  the  same  procedure  once  more,  when  bottled. 
It  will  be  preserved  without  the  danger  of  an  alteration. 


—  41 


The  bottles  of  course  must  be  stored  away  in  a  horizontal 
position.  When  standing  upright  a  good  number  of  them 
will  show  flowers,  the  germs  of  which  are  introduced  during 
the  operation  of  bottling ;  or  they  may  be  found  also  on  the 
walls  of  the  bottles  or  on  the  corks.  But  Mr.  Pasteur  has 
never  observed  the  formation  of  filiform  parasites,  undoubt¬ 
edly,  because  the  germs  of  the  latter  ferment  are  less  frequ¬ 
ent,  than  those  of  the  mycoderm’s,  and  principally  found  in 
the  wine  in  its  natural  state.  Should  there  be  an  alteration 
at  all,  it  will  not  be  general,  but  limited  to  some  single 
bottles.  Mr.  Pasteur,  however,  says :  he  dares  not  to  give 
his  definitive  opinion  about  the  question,  whether  it  is  ne¬ 
cessary  or  not,  the  heat  wine  in  bottles,  which  had  been 
heated  once  before,  when  in  casks,  and  thinks,  that  experi¬ 
ence  must  teach  us  best. 

Once  or  twice,  during  the  experiments  it  happened,  tha 
the  wine  became  somewhat  feculent,  but  this  was  observed 
only  in  casks,  which  were  not  in  a  proper  condition.  While 
the  wine  was  in  the  state  of  cooling,  the  oxygen  of  the  outer 
air  had  entered  through  some  fissure,  and  had  a  direct  and 
sudden  influence  on  the  wine.  This  direct  action  of  the 
air  and  its  effect  on  the  wine  is  frequently  noticed  with  red 
wines,  and  gives  them  also  a  rather  sensible  bitter  taste. 
But  the  inconvenience  may  be  easily  avoided. 

The  method  of  heating  wine  in  casks  as  described  here, 
is  not  recommended  for  a  general  adoption,  and  will  undoubt¬ 
edly  experience  many  improvements.  It  will  be  necessary 
to  apply  a  procedure,  by  which  large  quantities  of  wine  may 
be  heated.  The  experiments  of  Mr.  Pasteur  were  made 
with  small  casks  of  from  3  to  10  gallons,  and  had  no  other 
purpose  but  to  give  the  first  indications.  The  better  way 


42  — 


for  effecting  the  operation  would  be  to  heat  the  wine,  which 
is  to  be  protected  against  the  air,  in  large  tubs  by  steam, 
circulating  in  serpentines. 

In  one  of  the  principal  establishments  at  Meze  there  are 
in  use  large  tubs,  made  of  squarestones,  to  which  one  coat 
of  paint  is  given.  They  hold  one  thousand  hectoliter’s 
(26,000  Gallons).  The  heating  is  effected  by  a  subterranean 
steamboiler,  from  which  the  steam  is  led  into  tubes  of  cop¬ 
per.  The  latter  are  introduced  into  the  large  vessel,  and 
the  wine  is  heated  by  the  steam,  circulating  in  the  tubes. 

When  the  temperature  of  the  wine  has  reached  140  to 
150  degrees — the  wine  is  drawn  off  into  casks  of  usual  size, 
for  cooling.  In  consequence  of  the  high  temperature,  which 
had  been  given  to  the  wine  in  the  large  vessel,  its  temper¬ 
ature,  when  filled  into  the  smaller  casks,  will  not  be  less 
than  120  to  150  degrees,  which  is  higher  than  the  minimum 
of  temperature,  sufficient  for  destroying  the  vitality  of  the 
germs,  that  may  exist  in  the  casks,  into  which  the  wine  is 
drawn. 

This  method  appears  to  offer  many  advantages ;  but  still 
every  proprietor  may  follow  his  own  ideas,  and  may  execute 
the  operation  in  such  a  way,  as  he  thinks  best  fit  for  his 
own  localities.  Experience  will  in  the  course  of  time  be  his 
best  teacher. 


43 


c, 

HEATING  WINE  IN  DEMIJOHN’S. 

In  a  climate,  where  the  sunbeams  are  effectful  enough  to 
heat  the  liquid  in  a  vessel  of  glass  up  to  the  necessary  de¬ 
gree  of  warmth — and  we  believe,  during  the  months  of  July 
and  August  at  least,  this  may  be  done  in  any  country,  where 
the  vine  can  be  cultivated — the  following  method  may  be 
successfully  applied. 

The  same  is  principally  recommended  for  all  blended 
wines,  for  cordial  wines,  in  short  for  all  wines,  to  which  an 
addition  is  to  be  made  of  sweet  wines,  sugar,  or  pure 
spirits. 

The  operation  is  to  be  done  as  follows  : 

The  wine,  with  the  requisite  addition  of  sugar,  sweet 
wine,  or  spirits,  and  thus  readymade  and  prepared, is  placed 
into  demijohns,  without  filling  them  entirely.  Some  room 
must  be  left  to  the  air,  the  oxygen  of  which  will  favorably 
influence  the  wine,  by  oxydating  it,  causing  the  deposits  to 
settle,  and  communicating  to  it  flavor  and  bouquet. 

Now  see  what  will  pass  in  these  demijohns,  when,  well 
corked,  they  are  exposed  to  the  full  heat  of  the  sun.  The 
temperature,  principally  of  the  air  in  the  demijohns,  is  raised 
to  130°  and  more,  by  the  rapidly  accumulating  heat  of  the 
darkened  beams  of  the  sun,  and  the  germs  of  the  mycoderms 
will  be  killed  so  entirely,  that  the  wine  becomes  inaccessible 


44 


to  any  alteration.  Aeetification  lias  become  an  impossibil¬ 
ity. 

After  some  weeks  the  wine  will  have  absorbed  all  the 
oxygen^  and  will  have  also  completely  settled.  Then,  the  cork 
is  carefnlly  removed  without  moving  the  demijohn,  the  wTine 
contained  therein,  is  drawn  out  with  the  aid  of  a  siphon, 
and  put  into  bottles.  This  wine  of  a  splendid  brightness  has 
adopted  then  the  principal  attributes  of  a  very  old  wine,  and 
is  to  a  remarkable  degree  maderise,  i.  e.,  has  become  pos¬ 
sessed  of  all  the  qualities  of  the  old  wine  of  Madeira. 

Wine,  treated  in  this  way,  is  made  inalterable,  and  the 
formation  of  any  sediment  is  impossible.  The  same  method 
of  course  will  be  successfully  applied  to  all  wines  in  their 
natural  state. — 


—  45  — 


CONCLUSION. 

Mr.  Pasteur,  in  concluding  his  work,  says  : 

In  terminating  the  exposition  of  my  investigations  on 
the  new  proceedings  on  preservation,  to  which  I  have  been 
led  by  a  logical  deduction  from  my  studies  on  the  causes  of 
diseases  of  the  wine,  I  shall  not  omit  to  relate  some  anterior 
facts,  which  partly  show  an  inclination  to  the  same  proceed¬ 
ings,  and  partly  differ  from  them. 

At  all  times  heat,  under  different  forms  has  been  ap¬ 
plied  at  the  operation  of  wine-making.  We  find  in  the  latin 
writers  on  agriculture,  the  proceedings  of  preservation  and 
preparation,  as  used  by  the  Romans  and  Greeks.  Colu¬ 
mella,  the  most  exact  of  them,  tells  us,  that  to  make  ihe 
wine  durable,  portions  of  must,  varying  according  to  its 
quality,  reduced  by  boiling,  to  the  half  or  third  of  its  vol¬ 
ume,  and  mixed  with  iris,  myrrh,  rosin,  and  other  similar  in¬ 
gredients  were  added  to  the  new  wine.  This  was  a  veritable 
blending  operation  together  with  a  preservation  of  antiscep¬ 
tics.  But  Columella  confesses,  that  the  wine,  which  has  no 
need  to  be  mixed  for  durability  with  the  named  substances, 
is  always  of  superior  quality ;  and  he  adds :  “We  believe 
it  is  not  absolutely  necessary,  to  add  anything  to  the  wine 
that  will  alter  its  natural  taste  ;  because  a  product  that 
pleases  the  taste  without  the  assistant  of  art  is  superior  to 
any  other.” 


46  — 


Amongst  other  proceedings  for  perserving  the  must  of 
the  grape,  Chimelle  gives  the  following  :  “  In  some  districts, 
where  the  wine  is  given  to  turning  sour,  it  is  necessary,  as 
soon  as  the  grapes  have  been  gathered,  and  before  the  husks 
are  taken  to  the  press,  to  pour  the  must  into  a  vessel,  and 
to  add  to  it  a  tenth  part  of  water,  taken  from  a  well  on  the 
same  property.  This  is  to  be  boiled  until  its  volume  is  re¬ 
duced  to  the  original  volume  of  the  wine.  When  cooled,  it 
is  filled  into  vases,  which  have  to  be  well  covered  and  corked. 
Treated  in  this  way,  the  wine  will  be  preserved  for  a  long 
time,  without  alteration  of  any  kind.” 

Fabroni  says,  that  in  some  districts  of  Spain  the  whole 
quantity  of  grape  juice,  destined  for  making  wine,  is  boiled. 

Abbe  Eozie  says  : — but  I  was  not  able  to  find  the  source 
where  he  may  have  taken  it  from — ,  that  the  wines  of  Creta 
were  heated  up  to  the  boiling  point,  before  they  were  sent 
across  the  water. 

The  heat  of  the  sun  also  assisted  rather  frequently  in  the 
process  of  wine  making. 

Plinius  says  :  “  The  wine  in  Greece,  which  is  called  bios 

(life),  and  which  is  applied  as  a  remedy  in  many  diseases, 
enjoys  a  well  deserved  celebrity.  It  is  prepared  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  manner :  the  grapes  are  plucked  a  little  before  ma¬ 
turity,  and  dried  by  exposing  them  to  a  hot  sun  for  three 
days,  and  turning  them  three  times  a  day.  On  the  fourth 
day  they  are  pressed ;  the  wine  is  thrown  into  casks  and  age 
given  to  it  by  the  sun.” 

Cato  gives  the  prescription,  how  to  change  Italian  wine 
into  wine  of  Cos.  Besides  other  preparations  (which  con¬ 
sisted  essentially  in  a  strong  addition  of  sea-water)  it  is  ne¬ 
cessary  to  expose  the  wine  to  the  sun  for  four  years. 


—  47 


Finally  we  find  in  Plinius  the  following  remarkable  pass¬ 
age,  which  shows,  that  the  method  applied  in  Cette  for  giving 
age  to  the  wine,  is  of  a  very  ancient  origin.  Plinins  says  : 
‘  in  Campania  the  better  grades  of  wine  are  exposed  to  the 
open  air ;  and  it  is  considered  very  useful,  that  vessels,  con¬ 
taining  the  wine  have  to  stand  the  influence  of  the  sun,  the 
moon,  the  rain,  and  the  winds.” 

The  Vinegar  is  so  near  a  relative  to  the  wine,  that  I 
think  it  proper,  to  mention  here  the  method  proposed  by  the 
celebrated  Scheele,  for  preserving  surely  this  liquid. 

It  is  sufficient  to  throw  the  vinegar  in  a  well  tinned  pot, 
and  to  let  it  boil  for  a  quarter  of  a  minute  by  a  lively  fire  ; 
then  to  fill  it  into  bottles  with  precaution.  If  it  is  thought  that 
tinning  might  be  dangerous  to  health,  the  vinegar  may  be  bot¬ 
tled,  and  some  of  the  bottles  at  the  time,  placed  into  a  kettle 
filled  with  water  over  a  fire.  When  the  water  has  been  boiling 
for  a  few  moments,  the  bottles  may  be  withdrawn. 

Vinegar,  treated  in  this  manner,  may  be  preserved  for 
many  years,  and  never  will  spoil  or  lose  its  brightness^ 
wdiether  in  open  ais,  nor  in  half  filled  bottles. 


•9 


near  Fulton  Street ,  NEW  YORK. 

P.  O.  BOX  5200. 

Keep  the  largest  stock  of  fine  imported 

WINE  CORKS 

on  hand,  suitable  for 

Pint,  Quart  &  Champagne  Bottles, 

AND  FOB 

Demijohns,  Cashs  and 
Barrels; 

ALSO  EXTRA  FINE  FRENCH 

Champagne  Corks, 


for  Manufacturing  of  Sparkling  Wines. 
Sample  sent  by  Mail  or  Express. 


MONTHLY  STATISTICS. 


This  Journal  is  published  on  or  before  the  twelfth  day 
of  every  month,  and  is  devoted  principally  to  the  interests 
of : 


The  Monthly  Statistics  tries  to  accomplish  this  purpose 
by  making  its  readers  acquainted  with  all  that  is  worth 
knowing  of  new  publications,  improvements  and  discoveries 
in  the  field  of  Yineculture  in  ^Europe,  and  thus  represents 
a  medium  for  communication  between  the  Vinegrowers  of 
Europe  and  of  America. 

Letters  from  E.  Hecker  and  F.  Muench,  both  gentlemen 
of  experience  collected  in  the  Vineyards  of  Europe  and  of 
America,  will  give  valuable  information  of  all  the  different 
parts  of  Vineculture  and  Wine-making. 

The  Monthly  Statistics  will  also  contain  Monthly  State¬ 
ments  of  Import  and  Export  of  all  articles  belonging  to  the 
alimentary  line  with  special  reference  to  the  trade  in  our 
domestic  products,  and  a  complete  Price  current  of  imported 
and  native  Wines  and  Liquors. 

The  Frice  for  Subscription  is  $3.00  P.  annum, 

sent  free  by  mail. 

Send  orders  to  SSox  60959 

Post  Office, 

NEW  YORK. 


I 


Hem. 


61  Water  Street, 

NEW  YORK. 


I  ' 


Importers  of 

WINES,  BRANDIES,  BINS,  &c., 


CHAMPAGNE. 


Constantly  on  hand  a  large  stocle  of 

DEMIJOHNS  of  all  sizes. 


is  published  every  Wednesday,  and  is  principally  de¬ 
voted  to  the  interests  of  the : 


TRADE  IU 


It  brings  a  weekly  report  about  the  Market,  the  Imports 
and  Exports.  Both  of  the  latter  are  given  alphabetically 
arranged,  and  in  a  more  complete  form,  than  in  any  other 
commercial  paper. 

The  list  of  importation  will  give  to  any  purchaser  of 
Wines,  Fruits,  Delicacies  etc.  the  best  chance  to  inform 
himself  promptly  and  reliably,  where  he  may  find  the  article 
wanted. 

Price  for  Subscription: 

$5.00,  payable  half  yearly  in  advance, 

sent  free  by  mail. 

Send  ordes  to 

Box  6095*  Postofflce , 

NEW  YORK. 


NEW  PUBLICATION. 

On  request  of  several  of  our  subscribers  in  the  Vinegrowing  districts,  we 
have  prepared  a  special  edition  in  pamphlet  form  of  : 

The  Husks  of  the  Vinegrapes, 

Their  Treatment  and  Distillation, 

the  completest  and  most  elaborate  essay  that  has,  by  our  knowledge,  ever  been 
published  on  this  subject. 

As  the  harvest  and  the  crushing  of  the  grapes  is  just  now  going  into  opera¬ 
tion,  the  publication  will  be  of  an  immediate  usefulness  to  all  vineyard  pro- 
*  prietors. 

It  will  be  sent  free  by  mail  to  any  part  of  the  United  States  on  receipt  of 
Fifty  Cents. 

Address  : 

Box  6095  P.  O.,  NEW  YORK. 


JOHN  N.  KLODT, 

BOTTEIE  mi  WlilBlISSiE, 

85  PEARL  ST.,  NEW  YORK. 

All  kinds  of  Wines,  Liquors  &c.,  put  up  to  order,  bottled 
and  repacked. 

All  orders  will  be  punctually  attended  to  in  the  best  pos¬ 
sible  manner  and  at  the  shortest  notice. 

P.  S. — Excellent  cellars  for  Storage  of  Wines. 


ithopaphm, 


22  &  24  North  William  St.,  NEW  YORK. 

A  large  Assortment  of 

Wiae  &  Liquor,  Cigar  &  Tofeaeoo  LABILE, 

constantly  on  hand.  All  orders  ^promptly  attended  to. 


